For a rainy day

"Jesus wept." John 11.35

Difficult day for the Clarke family, as we bury their 16 year old son, Will. It's every parent's worst nightmare: to bury their own child. And where is God in it? Their is no expectation that he will raise Will to life again, as he did Lazarus, and so we accept, do our best to offer compassion and move on...

Yet like everything in life, this is just the tip of the iceberg. So much more is going on. Those close to Will won't simply move on. And we who believe do not consider God to be indifferent either. Jesus had emotions - he invented them! They are what ensure our humanity in a fallen world, where suffering is a fact of life and one which scatters its fruit indiscriminately. In their exercising, emotions - particularly those which express positive feelings towards other people - are shaping and preparing us for that day when there will be no more suffering or crying or pain...

... because in the New Creation even death will be no more and so life will be free to blossom and flourish - eternal in both quality and duration. Christians believe this same Jesus is both creator and re-creator, the one who transforms everything and makes all things possible. Yet he does not do this remotely. He invites us to follow him through the door of death into fulness of life and, in the meantime, he walks with us, suffers with us, dreams with us.